Many known patient monitoring or treatment devices are electrically operated and include electrical leads or wires that interconnect various elements of the devices. For example, lead wires often interconnect a patient monitor with a portion of a device that interacts with the patient, such as electrodes. During use, disposable electrodes are attached to electrical snaps provided at the free end of the lead wire and the electrodes are then attached to the patient's body. During periods of non-use, the electrodes are removed from the snaps and the lead wires and snaps are either allowed to hang free from the monitoring/treatment device or are stored in an alternate location.
A common problem associated with lead wires is that they often become tangled or intertwined and thus prevent or hinder the caregiver in administering the treatment/monitoring services to the patient. In addition, often the lead wires are not completely untangled prior to attachment to the patient, which results in the usable length of the lead wires being reduced. Tangled lead wires can increase the time necessary to attach the electrodes to the patient. Reducing the effective lead wire length can also increase the likelihood that lead wires will pull against the electrodes and cause artifacts in ECG recordings or cause either the electrodes to separate from the body or the lead wires to separate from the electrodes.
It is known to provide gathers or retainers to hold a group of lead wires together at selected points. However, these arrangements limit the flexibility of the lead wires to be routed to different parts of the body. For example, a right arm lead wire and a left arm lead wire cannot be gathered within about 12 inches of the free ends of the lead wires, or else the free ends cannot reach the patient's opposite shoulders or wrists.
Another solution to the several problems noted above is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 6,639,153, which teaches a device for detangling or preventing the tangling of a plurality of elongated lead wires. When the lead wires become tangled, a slidable collar is slid along the length of the lead wires from a fixed end to a free end. Movement of the collar along the lead wires causes the wires to become segregated and thus disentangled. However, a disadvantage of this arrangement is that if the free ends of the lead wires are somewhat tangled or knotted, it will not be possible to slide the collar along the entire length of the lead wires. This arrangement also suffers from the disadvantages discussed above regarding gathers and retainers.
As such, it remains desirable to provide a method and apparatus for disentangling lead wires on a patient monitoring or treatment device. It is further desirable to provide such a method and apparatus that is simple to use and inexpensive to manufacture. It is further desirable to provide such an arrangement and method that promotes quick, organized and easy storage of the lead wires such that they are easily accessible.